b. 1929, Red Pheasant Reserve, Saskatchewan
First Nations Affiliation: Plains Cree

Website: http://www.nbhome.com/allen-sapp/index.htm

A descendant of Chief Red Pheasant (for whom his home reserve is named) and the eminent Cree leader Poundmaker, Allen Sapp's education was traditional. As childhood illnesses pre-empted mainstream schooling, Sapp was mostly self-taught. He began painting professionally in the late 1960s, studying for a period with noted Saskatchewan artist Wynona Mulcaster. Developed in part from dream imagery, his paintings are invaluable documents of Northern Plains Cree culture as well as visionary encapsulations of a particular Cree worldview. In 1975, Sapp was named an Associate of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art and was presented with the Order of Canada in 1987.

R E C E N T   E X H I B I T I O N S

S E L E C T E D   C O L L E C T I O N S

AMACO Canadian Limited, Calgary, Alberta
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
PanCanadian Oil Corporation, Calgary, Alberta
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario

S E L E C T E D   B I B L I O G R A P H Y

"Allen Sapp: Communicating on canvas." Globe & Mail Metro Edition, 16 January 1995, p. C1.

Boyer, Bob. Kiskayetum: Allen Sapp, A Retrospective / Kiskayetum: Allen Sapp, une retrospective. With an essay by Alfred Young Man. Regina, Saskatchewan: Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1994.

Green, Alan. Allen Sapp: A Bio-bibliography. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 1996.

Highwater, Jamake. The Sweetgrass Lives On: Fifty Contemporary North American Indian Artists. New York: Lipponcott & Crowell Publishing, 1980.

"Hometown honors artist (Allen Sapp) with new gallery." Calgary Herald, 9 May 1989, p. D11.

Kinsella, WP. Two Spirits Soar: The Art of Allen Sapp, the Inspiration of Allan Gonor. Don Mills, Ontario: Stoddart, 1990.

"Macdonald, Max. Chronicler of the Cree: Allen Sapp paints the story of his people." Canadian Geographic 110, no. 4 (August/September 1990): 36-41.

MacEwan, Grant. Portraits from the Plains. Toronto; New York: McGraw-Hill Co. of Canada, 1971.

Review of Two Spirits Soar: The Art of Allen Sapp / The Inspiration of Allan Gonor by WP. Kinsella. Vancouver Sun, 3 November 1990, p. D19.

Review of Two Spirits Soar: The Art of Allen Sapp/ The Inspiration of Allan Gonor by WP. Kinsella. Calgary Herald, 6 October 1990, p. C7.

Sapp, Allen. A Cree Life: The Art of Allen Sapp. Introduction by John Anson Warner & Thecla Bradshaw. Vancouver, British Columbia: J. J. Douglas, 1977.

Sapp, Allen. I Heard the Drums. Don Mills, Ontario: Stoddart, 1996.